Guppies refuse to stop guppying

[KittenFishMom]

Dear CARE Forum: Thanks for all your help and support during this very challenging time of my life.

My tanks are getting back into good condition. I have found someone with a large tank who is willing to take a lot of guppies. 

My problem is the guppies are acting like those birthday candles that you blow out, and a moment later they are lit again.

I have taken all the guppies out of one tank and it just has 5 corys and a lot of snails. I am getting ready to try to move all my neon tetras in with the corys.  I have been removing the plants a few at a time for the tank with the tetra's and guppies' tank, so as not to stress them too much, in hopes of  making catching the neon tetras easier. I lifted the lid today and saw a major school of little guppies. I thought the adults controlled the population when there where few plants. 

I was then watching the cory tank. It had several bad periods of times over the last 4 months. I took the remaining 9 guppies out about 5 days ago. Some had twisted spines, probably from low calcium at some point. I also took out almost all the duck weed. Tonight daphnia were swimming all over. I thought the fish had finished them a long time ago. Then I thought I saw a scud swimming by. It wasn't a scud, it was a tiny guppy. Then I saw some more, and more again. There had not been babies in that tank in a very long time, but there are a lot now. I wanted to have that tank just be corys and tetras. 

Any advice on a kind way to deal with these little guys? I moved a male betta into a guppy tank, hoping to slow down the guppy population growth. Tonight I saw a lot of tiny guppy fry that must have ben born after I added the betta.  

When I got first got these guppies, I did not think they would live because the water was filthy and they did not have a working heater and had been badly neglected. Now I have a huge number of guppies in an amazing variety of colors and patterns. I just need to give away most and get the remaining ones to slow down their production.  Every time I turn around I see more big eyes on tiny silver bodies asking to be fed. 

@Fish Folk do you think female flag fish might be a good idea?

 

[lefty o]

guppies are resilient little buggers who could teach mice a thing or two about breeding. some adult guppies are baby eaters, but usually only when you dont want them to.  a few larger fish help to keep them in check, but typically the population will still grow, just not as fast.

[KittenFishMom]

@lefty o I don't have room to keep adding more tanks. How do most guppy keepers keep their population in check?  I like giving them a high quality diet and environment. But I don't have unlimited room for more guppies. My first thought when I saw the fry was" start hatching brine shrimp".  I want to provide for them, just not so many of them. It is very hard for me to not feed a tank one day a week if there are fry in the tank. 

[PineSong]

Kittenfish, I feel your pain. I’ve spent dozens of hours trying to divide my guppy fry by sex so I can turn off the breeding. And I still have fry being born every week 😳. I don’t have any advice for you, just want you to know you’re not alone.

[KittenFishMom]

@PineSongThey say the only reason to grow zucchini in Ithaca is to keep you friends from giving it to you. I am beginning to think guppies are the zucchini of the fish hobby world. 

[lefty o]

On 8/1/2022 at 10:51 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@PineSongThey say the only reason to grow zucchini in Ithaca is to keep you friends from giving it to you. I am beginning to think guppies are the zucchini of the fish hobby world. 

over the years, i have given away thousands of guppies. they are the gift that keeps on giving. having mixed species tank with some slightly larger fish to help eat fry is about the only way ive found to keep the numbers in check. maybe try to feed the tanks slightly less to make the adults hungry and incentivize them to predate the fry a bit more.

[KittenFishMom]

@lefty o What "slightly larger fish" do you recommend? I am working with 10 gallon tanks until we get the well fixed. (made calls about the well today.)

@lefty o the corys show no interest in the fry.

Edited August 2, 2022 by KittenFishMom

[Brandon p]

Sell them on eBay.I’m joking but I sell the males to the lfs as regular fish. The females look good as well but they go in the feeder fish.

[KittenFishMom]

@Brandon pThe LFS will only accept a donation of 20 guppies per week. It is a 30 minute drive each way. Giving them to the store  does not cover the gas to drive them to the store.  I think they are producing more than 20 per week.

They are very mellow fish. They don't flinch when the cats jump on the tank lid.  I put some culls in a mini pond with weeping willow branches and a ton of duck week. I'm hoping the branches root and the guppies don't produce too many fry by the time comes that I have to take the pond down in the fall.

[PineSong]

I hear that angel fish are eaters of guppy fry? What I don’t know is whether they are also eaters of adult guppies?

Edited August 2, 2022 by PineSong

[Brandon p]

That stinks I get paid .50 per for the ones in the picture and .15 for the one I’ll post here. I can bring in as many as I want 

they are much better looking in the water there blue , green and sparkle 

On 8/2/2022 at 12:42 AM, PineSong said:

I hear that angel fish are eaters of guppy fry? What I don’t know is whether they are also eaters of adult guppies?

Only the biggest ones. I have some med sized ones in withe some angelfish.

[Brandon p]

I talked to a friend that breeds guppies and he said that cooling the tank by 3 degrees and feed less.

[Hannah Parker]

I have a community tank with a betta and live bearers, guppies included. My betta definitely helps with the population, but he doesn't get them all. He gets most though so it helps. 

[JettsPapa]

See if you can find a couple of albino koi guppies.  They're relentless fry hunters.

And by the way, you mentioned that the fry survived without a heater.  Guppies will do just fine until the temperatures get down around 50°F.

Edited August 2, 2022 by JettsPapa

[Taco Playz]

Do you by any chance have the nextdoor app? It's a good way to get rid of too many guppies. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@Brandon p would it be better to take the photos while they are in the water?  Doesn't it stress/harm them to have them out in the air?

Edited August 2, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[AnotherHumanPerson]

You could always sell the babies via craigslist or a local classifieds. You also might be able to sell them to a lfs.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:51 AM, Taco Playz said:

Do you by any chance have the nextdoor app? It's a good way to get rid of too many guppies. 

That's been working well for me for snail sales. (Hey that rhymes)

[KittenFishMom]

@jamieterrin My mother suddenly needed 24*7 care for 4 months. When I bought clove oil to reduce the population, CARE suggested  I add extra plants and move the fish around to balance the bio-load instead. Now that Mom is gone, I'm picking up the pieces. I did not expect to loose almost everything but the guppies. I did not know the guppy population would to explode for fast in 4 months of neglect. I have only been keeping tropical fish since November, I am still pretty wet behind the ears and up to my elbows.

[jamieterrin]

@KittenFishMom so sorry to hear that, sorry was just complementing the guppies on there nature ❤️ seems they have chosen to keep you busy at this time.. 

perhaps introduce a predator into the tank to help cull out the lazy ones? my fave is the bumblebee goby, how big is your tank?  

[KittenFishMom]

@jamieterrin I have 4 10-gallon tanks and a bad well. I don't want to start up my bigger tanks until the well is fixed.  We called to get the well fix yesterday, but the well folks are very busy because of the drought. I'm using bottled spring water for the water changes. I was asking for advice on predators in this thread. I have a male betta in 2 tanks. The corys in the 3rd didn't seem to notice the fry. The forth tank has some neon tetras. I want to cut back to 2 tanks until the well is fixed. Maybe 1 tank if I rehome a betta.

[jamieterrin]

yeah sure sounds like a lot to handle a the best of times, wish i could take all the guppies from ya, if only you where in new zealand 

won't help right now but the betta should eat many fry. the reason i like gobbles is they like to hide and hunt in the foliage and rocks and the fry don't notice them as much

have you thought about putting a water bridge between 2 tanks? It effectively turns them into one tank water change wise and you can still keep the live stock separated 

[eatyourpeas]

On 8/1/2022 at 8:51 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@PineSongThey say the only reason to grow zucchini in Ithaca is to keep you friends from giving it to you. I am beginning to think guppies are the zucchini of the fish hobby world. 

And that is why guppies and zucchini terrify me!

[KittenFishMom]

I just turned on the light for the tank with the 5 corys. I tested the water last night because it looked strange. but all the readings were fine.  Now the water is looking cloudy and white.  I am going to move the corys and do a water change and see what happens.  This happened after I took the guppies and duckweed out. Maybe they were feeding on something. 

 

[KittenFishMom]

Well 2 of the 5 cory are died. I move the other 3 to the tetra/guppy tank. I will break down the cory tank. If the corys wipe out that tank I'll rehome the guppies and 2 male bettas and start fresh after the well is fixed.